Dallas Clouatre, PhD

Dallas Clouatre, Ph.D. earned his A.B. from Stanford and his Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley. A Fellow of the American College of Nutrition, he is a prominent industry consultant in the US, Europe, and Asia, and is a sought-after speaker and spokesperson. He is the author of numerous books. Recent publications include "Tocotrienols in Vitamin E: Hype or Science?" and "Vitamin E – Natural vs. Synthetic" in Tocotrienols: Vitamin E Beyond Tocopherols (2008), "Grape Seed Extract" in the Encyclopedia Of Dietary Supplements (2005), "Kava Kava: Examining New Reports of Toxicity" in Toxicology Letters (2004) and Anti-Fat Nutrients (4th edition).

Many of us start off the year with a determination—backed by a gym membership—
to get into shape and lose weight. It now is February.
How are those New Year's resolutions faring? Is it time for Plan B?

If that means diets and weight loss aids, there is no one-size-fits-
all. Choosing the right approach with realistic expectations
as to how much can be lost and how quickly will help prevent
frustration and disappointment, not to mention major weight
regain later in the...

As pointed out in past TotalHealth articles, many
fungi and bacteria found in foods are beneficial
to health. Whether one is discussing breads,
cheeses, fermented tofu, wines, yoghurt,
sauerkraut, kimchi or a number of other items,
very often it turns out that traditional cooking and preserving
techniques involving fungi and bacteria offer many benefits that
are lost with modern alternatives.

This having been said, a major benefit of modern food
science is the...

Most of the substances that are classified as vitamins were discovered decades ago. Required in tiny amounts for normal growth and development, vitamins must be obtained from the diet. Determining vitamin status is not quite as straight forward as this suggests, which is one reason that new vitamins on occasion still are discovered. Ergothioneine, an amino acid that is relatively abundant in certain mushrooms, currently is being proposed by a number of scientists as the latest new vitamin....

Two years ago in this space the topic was the
entourage effect and how it differed from nutritional
and medical findings involving synergy: "Whereas
synergism involves components each of which is active on its
own and which in combination yield effects greater than the
sum of the individual contributions, the entourage effect may
involve components most of which on their own may exhibit
little or no benefit or may yield benefits that are...

'A CALORIE IS A CALORIE' IS AN AMBIGUOUS PHRASE.
IN ONE SENSE IT IS TRIVIALLY TRUE, AS IN GERTRUDE
STEIN'S FAMOUS PHRASE, 'A ROSE IS A ROSE IS A ROSE
IS A ROSE'. In another sense it is obviously questionable,
because it assumes no difference between the energy
produced by burning food in a bomb calorimeter and that
generated by metabolic processes. It also assumes that as far
as effect on body weight is concerned, fat is bad because fat by
itself is calorie-dense per unit of weight,...

In many older detective stories, the punch line famously
is, "the butler did it." In the minds of many contemporary
Americans, gluten is the "butler." Increasingly, when
individuals experience symptoms such as fatigue,
headaches and gastrointestinal distress, including gas,
bloating and diarrhea, gluten is called out as the culprit.
The passage of partially digested or undigested gluten
through the intestines and the gut barrier may also contribute
to additional symptoms not...

Meditation, yoga, tai chi and other practices
often are mentioned in passing as being
good for health. However, it is surprising
how little medical research has been devoted
to testing such claims. Perhaps equally
surprising is that until recently little work
had been undertaken to quantify the impact of stress on aging.
Of course, people often talk about reducing stress and note that
too much stress is not good for us, but how much is too much
and what, exactly, is the impact on...

Bone broths are highly valued for their benefits,
especially for joints and the digestive tract. Name
almost any major cuisine in the world and broths
and stocks are essential components. In pre-late
20th Century households, these liquids provided
the foundation for sauces, soups, stews and numerous other
products of the kitchen. However, they went beyond this to
provide the bases for nutrient rich tonic foods considered to be
good for the bones, joints, digestive system, immune...

Lack of energy is a constant theme in the lives of countless
Americans. For many, tiredness is so routine that they accept
it as a natural state. Family and work by themselves
are exhausting; unexpected demands or a restless night can deplete
the remaining energy reserves. What is to be done? The
American answer is caffeine. Pick your flavor: coffee (then more
coffee), energy drinks (which flavor and how tall?), sodas (nothing
beats caffeine plus sugar!) and the list goes on. The idea...

Insulin ranks as one of the great discoveries of the Twentieth Century. Initially, it was thought of primarily in terms of providing an explanation and a solution to diabetes. Subsequent research reduced expectations that insulin was a "cure" to diabetes, yet broadened the range of conditions in which insulin appeared to be active. Similarly, organs beyond the pancreas became recognized as being linked to insulin’s activities. These included the muscles as repositories for glucose...

In aging and many disease states, the energy
production capacity of the body’s cells is diminished.
The mitochondria are the structures within the cell
responsible for generating energy from oxygen and
nutrients. If their number is reduced or their function
is impaired, free radicals are produced and damaging toxins
accumulate in the cells. These toxins further damage the
mitochondria and impair other aspects of cellular function.
Many of the most common health problems, such as...

Over the last decade, few dietary supplements have
been in the news as much as curcumin and turmeric, the item
from which curcumin and related compounds are extracted.
The background for modern western interest is much older.
Turmeric (Curcuma longa) is a yellow spice and a traditional
remedy that has been used as a medicine, condiment and
flavoring since 600 BC. The rhizome (underground stem) is
the part of the plant that is harvested and ground to make
the spice. In the...

Much evidence suggests that gastrointestinal
tract problems are on the rise in the modern
world with significant health consequences
that extend well beyond the gut itself. For
instance, autism is increasing, especially in
male children, and researchers at MIT and elsewhere point to
the GI-tract and disturbances caused by glyphosate and other
chemicals used in industrial agriculture as among the causes.
Food processing with its emulsifiers and storage techniques
likewise may play a...

It is New Year's resolution time and
one of the perennial resolutions
for many Americans is, "this year I
am going to lose weight and keep
it off."

Literally two thirds of Americans
are overweight or worse, so there are a lot
of such resolutions being made. Like gym
memberships, however, there are far more
resolutions initially undertaken than followed
through. Nevertheless, this time around
things can be different. One key is that the
weight loss strategy...

Sometimes lost in the public service messages
regarding what to eat is another important component
in nutrition—how food is cooked. This is the take
home message from a recent article published in
Food Chemistry.1 Moreover, it seems that cooking techniques
and materials can cut both ways, either depleting nutrients
or enhancing them. Studies have shown, for instance, that
using poor quality fats to deep fry fish containing high levels
of omega-3 fatty acids can...

Received wisdom is that breakfast is the most
important meal of the day, an observation that
most clinical studies support. However, there are
doubters. Recently, the New York Times1 ran an
opinion piece by a professor of pediatrics at Indiana
University School of Medicine that stated bluntly in its title,
“Sorry, There’s Nothing Magical About Breakfast.” Unluckily
for this professor, new research just published in the Journal
of the American College of...

The nutrients L-carnitine and choline are two of
the most important for heart and liver health.
Large bodies of literature support the benefits of
these compounds and that of related items, such as
phosphatidylcholine. Despite this history, recently news media
articles have appeared suggesting that these nutrients actually
cause heart disease. Similarly, in the medical professional research
literature, there is a groundswell of publications that attempt
to associate L-carnitine and...

For Sports and Health

Most readers who have heard of ketosis and ketogenesis
likely associate the concepts with dieting and the works of Dr.
Robert C. Atkins (Dr. Atkins’ Health Revolution, 1989; Dr. Atkins’
New Diet Revolution, 1992) that launched a bit of a movement
in the 1990s. Much less well known is the role of ketosis in
sports and the importance of being able to enter ketosis as an
aspect of metabolic flexibility, meaning the ability to rapidly...

Athletic training is based on principles such as
physical overload, meaning that the body is taxed to
near its limits and then allowed to recover with the
expectation that recovery will be quicker in the future for the
same level of exertion and that the body will over-compensate
at recovery and thus allow even more exertion upon the next
challenge. This demand-and-response model clearly taxes bodily
reserves. Some supplements, for example, protein, are aimed
mostly at recovery and...

Over the last several months, there has been
considerable debate between growers of medicinal
mushrooms regarding the proper growing, identification
and testing of these health products. As one party has
put it, “Medicinal mushrooms are a category that has
experienced high growth but few actual quality control
standards.” These are not minor issues from the standpoint
of health and efficacy or, for that matter, potentially from
the standpoint of regulatory bodies. The chief...

Follow Us

The products and the claims made about specific products on or through this site have not been evaluated by The Wellness Imperative People or the United States Food and Drug Administration and are not approved to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease. The information provided on this site is for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for advice from your physician or other health care professional or any information contained on or in any product label or packaging. You should not use the information on this site for diagnosis or treatment of any health problem or for prescription of any medication or other treatment. You should consult with a healthcare professional before starting any diet, exercise or supplementation program, before taking any medication, or if you have or suspect you might have a health problem.